BUILD A MATCHBOX PINHOLE CAMERA

Transcription

1 Step by step visual guide to BUILD A MATCHBOX PINHOLE CAMERA buildcamera.wordpress.com

2 YOU WILL NEED Matchbox (small box) A new roll of 35mm film. Any type will do (keep the box!) An empty roll of 35mm film with at least 1cm stub of film sticking out. (Your local photo lab may give you some of these for free!) Empty drinks can Black PVC electricians tape Normal clear tape A pin Scissors Craft knife Ruller Thin and thick black marker pen Plastic spiral binder (optional)

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4 1 Mark out the center of the inner matchbox sleave with an x Now draw a line through the center, 24mm long Use this line to draw a square 24mm x 24mm This square will make the frame of your photographs 2Very carefully cut out the square with a sharp craft knife

5 3 Now using your thick black marker, colour the inside of the matchbox This is to ensure light does not bounce around inside the box! (In this photo I have some tape around the cut square, but it can make the matchbox quite tight, so I would recommend not taping around the square! I took it off!!) 4 Mark out the center of the matchbox sleave with an x Draw a small box about 7mm x7mm at the center point

6 5 Carefully cut out this small square using a sharp craft knife 6 Colour the inside of the matchbox sleave completely with the thick black marker Note: This can be tricky! It is essential to stop light bouncing around the inside of the box

7 7 BE VERY CAREFUL!! Cut out a small portion of the aluminium can This piece of aluminium will be used to let light into the camera through a pin hole 8Using Scissors, trim down the piece of aluminium taken from the can to around 15mm x 15mm Careful the edges are sharp!

8 9 To make the pinhole we will need to create a very small hole in the aluminium Place the aluminium on a cutting mat Place the pin in the center and start rolling the pin between your fingers...this will drill a very small hole Try a few times until you just see the hole and nothing more! 10 Tape the pinhole over the square opening in the matchbox sleave Make sure the pinhole is not covered by cardboard! Look into the matchbox sleave and see if you can see a little dot of light!

9 11 Now, cut a portion of the film box about 35 x 35mm Cut another piece about 20 x 40mm This will be used later for the camera shutter 12 On the square piece of card (35mm x 35mm), mark out the center with an x Draw a square 7mm x 7mm (same as in the matchbox sleave)

10 13 Cut out the square using a craft knife on a cutting mat 14 Line up the cardboard with the pinhole taped onto the matchbox sleave Tape down using BLACK PVC TAPE on 3 sides. Leave the top edge untapped The top side remains open so that you can slide you shutter into place

11 15 Slide the shutter into place, hiding the pinhole Make sure that the card is easy to slide in and out. If it is not free moving you will shake your camera when taking pictures Trim the card if required 16 Now open your New Film Do not pull the film out too far Trim the end so that it is square Note: You can tape a piece of a spiral binder to the film making a click when you move the film on, but sometime it can rip the film!

12 17 Now, roll the film through the matchbox sleave Make sure the film is touching the back of the camera, not along the front touching the pinhole 18 Now take the empty used film, with the short stump, and align it with the new film as shown This film should look upside down!

13 19 Carefully tape the two pieces of film together using some clear tape Do not overlap the film It is important that they are not taped at an angle Only use 1 layer of tape as it needs to run back into the film holder 20 It is now time to put the matchbox back together Make sure that you slide the black box in so that the film is at the back of the camera, touching the cutout square

14 21 Now roll the film up tight so that there is no film showing 22 Tape the film reels to the matchbox using BLACK PVC TAPE Make sure the film reels are tight to the matchbox before taping and that there are no gaps to let light in Also tape the top and bottom where the film reels meet the matchbox

15 Empty film stub Binder clip This is my finished camera (Almost!) You may want to attach something onto the empty (upside down film) so that you can wind the film on easier I drilled two holes in the stub of the empty film, and inserted part of a binder clip as shown below

16 HOW IT WORKS Pull shutter up to reveal pinhole Push down to finish taking the photo Do not wind here Wind here to move to next shot Step 1: Wind film on two turns before 1st shot Step 2: Place camera on a level surface and hold steady Step 3: Lift cardboard shutter to start exposure Step 4: Push down cardboard shutter to end exposure Step 5: Wind film on about 1.5 turns to take next shot Exposure time is about 1 second outside in daylight 1-3 seconds when cloudy and 30 seconds - 5 mins minutes indoors depending on lighting This based on iso 400 film! Adjust times as necessary There is no need to worry about being exact with times, just experiment and have fun!